Chapter 62: .
Two years later …
Sebastian lightly sipped his wine, his eyes, half-closed with boredom, roaming over the ballroom. Everything had taken on a sort of dull glow recently, like there was no excitement in his life anymore, except for a few times like letters from Lei. He lightly ran his fingers through his hair for about the 70th time that evening, trying to make it however Jylan would have two years ago. "No, perhaps he would have tucked this strand behind my ear…?" Sebastian said, fiddling around with his hair. Then he dropped it and said, to himself, "Let it go, Sebastian. He's gone." And since he had grandly fumbled the whole "Don't let the advisors send him away" thing, it was all his fault too. With another sip of wine, he scraped one foot across the soft carpet of the ballroom. classical music played somewhere in the distance, piano notes meandering around a few strings of violin. The wine, for some reason, tasted like pancakes, or perhaps that was just Sebastian's illusion.
"Nice party, eh, Sebas?" A voice said, and Sebastian turned.
Baron Eclis, formerly Duke Eclis, was standing in front of him. He had red eyes and dark black hair, along with a sharp jawline which made him quite handsome, but like Sebastian, his eyes were circled by dark shadows. Sebastian internally screamed, but he made a nice, diplomatic smile with his lips. "Oh, yes, very nice." He said, taking another sip of wine. "This wine was made to taste like your favorite food, did you know? magic is such a wonder. Mine tastes like pie. Yours?" Baron Eclis said, and Sebastian tried to keep his face in check. He was bored to death already, but it explained why the wine tasted like pancakes. "Ah, mine tastes like pancakes," Sebastian said, and Baron Eclis frowned. "Pancakes? Isn't that a peasant food?" Sebastian took another sip of wine, just to buy time, and said, "Yes, it is, but… I made them with someone special once, so I suppose they're my favorite dish." He tapped the carpet one more time with a foot, and Baron Eclis raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more. Thinking to get some information, Sebastian said, "How did you lose your title, Baron? I heard you were a duke." The baron frowned and drowned the rest of his wine in one swing.
"Ah, some bloke was just better than me. Nothing to it - we all get old someday or another." The baron sighed, staring into his empty wine glass and looking extremely depressed while Sebastian took another shot at playing with his hair. "Who was it?" Sebastian asked, not interested in the answer at all, now holding a piece of blond hair between his two fingers.
"Ah, some Jylan person. He used to work at your palace. He's not even an older noble - about your age - and so new that he's debuting this Friday." The baron said, and Sebastian's lips paused on his glass. "Is he here at this party?" Sebastian asked the baron, who shook his head. "If he was, you can bet I'd beat the sucker to his grave." Sebastian finally took the last sip out of his glass, trying to calm his thudding heart. Jylan probably wasn't here. Probably. But if he was, and if he was the Jylan that Sebastian knew and loved so much, the one who'd tap his foot when he was nervous and look at Sebastian with bright green eyes, then it was more than worth finding some dirt on a duke. A new duke, too, so it would be excusable. Sebastian smiled, grabbed another glass, and took a sip, greeted by pancakes, whipped cream, and sprinkles.
"Let's see what you've got for me, Duke Jylan."
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